Expose on: « The Shannon-Weaver Model of Communication »

Outline: Introduction Biography of Shannon and Weaver Backgound The Shannon-Weaver Model : a) The elements b) Examples c) Levels of Problems in the Analysis of Communication V. Critics VI. Conclusion VII. Bibliography

Introduction In its broadest sense, the word communication refers to every kind of mutual transmission of information using signs or symbols between living beings (humans, animals), between people and data-processing machines. [...]” (Bussmann 1996:83)

Biography of Shannon and Weaver Claude Elwood Shannon is an American mathematical engineer. He was born in Gaylord, Michigan, on April 30, 1916. He was educated at Michigan University in 1936. Later he went to Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he studied both electrical engineering and mathematics, receiving a master's degree and a doctorate. Warren Weaver, was born on November 24, 1918, he was an American scientist, mathematician, and science administrator. He is the pioneers of Machine translation.

Background: Shannon joined Bell Telephone Laboratories as a research mathematician in 1941. In 1948, he worked on the problem of most efficiently transmitting information. His goal was to formulate a theory to guide the efforts of engineers in finding the most efficient way of transmitting electrical signals from one location to another (Shannon and Weaver, 1949). Shannon published this theory in the Bill Company Technical Journal in an article called “A Mathematical Theory of Communication” in 1948. This theory was only intended to telephones, but when the American scientist Warren Weaver applied it on interpersonal communication, a very effective model of communication has been created with the help of Weaver, Shannon’s theory became a famous book called A Mathematical Theory of Communication published in 1949.

Shannon-Weaver model of communication

b-The elements of the model: According to Shannon and Weaver ,any communication system can be devided into Information source, which produces a message. A transmitter, which encodes the message into signals A channel,to which signals are adapted for transmission A receiver, which 'decodes‘ the message from the signal. A destination, where the message arrives. A sixth element, noise is a dysfunctional factor: any interference with the message travelling along the channel which may lead to the signal received being different from the one sent.

Example: In oral speech, the information source is the brain, the transmitter is the voice mecanism producing the various sounds (signal) which are transmitted through the air (channel) to the ear and the associated eighth nerve (receiver), then the message arrives to the brain (destiantion) .(ibid:7). Here the noise can be screaming, loud music,…..

Levels of problems in the analysis of communication Shannon and Weaver argued that there were three levels of problems of communication: The Technical Problem The Semantic Problem The Effectiveness Problem

Critics Simplicity. Generality Information-Centred. Missing of feedback Understanding noise ( Allow us to avoid it in order to have an effective communication)

Conclusion: Shannon and Weaver's model is the most well-known and influential model of communication. John Fiske considers it as a widely accepted as one of the main seeds out of which Communication Studies has grown' (Fiske 1982: 6). Their work proved valuable for communication engineers such as the capacity of various communication channels in 'bits per second'. It also contributed to computer science and lead to the technical improvements in the message transmission and it stimulated scholars from several disciplines to study communication scientifically.

Bibliography Shannon, C.E., & Weaver, W. (1949). The mathematical theory of communication. Urbana: University of Illinois Press Uma Narula (2006) : Handbook of Communication. Fiske, John (1982): Introduction to Communication Studies. London: Routledge. http://visual-memory.co.uk/daniel/Documents/short/trans.html http://www.oxfordreference.com David Tse & Paramod Viswanath ( 2001) Fundamentals of wireless communication. Alan jamuszewski (2001) Educational technology, The devlopement of concept http://www.quazoo.com/q/Models%20of%20communication